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Watch: Interviews With Some of Hong Kong's 400,000 July 1 Protesters

July 2nd, 2012 by Shuan Sim

Protesters wearing masks of Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying and a Chinese style prisoner shackle take part in a demonstration calling for universal suffrage in Hong Kong on July 1, 2012. (Aaron Tam/AFP/GettyImages)

As we told you last week, July 1 marked the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China. And an estimated 400,000 Hong Kongers took to the streets Sunday — the same day Leung Chun-ying was sworn in by Chinese president Hu Jintao as the new chief executive of the city — to protest. In the video below, South China Morning Post reporter Helene Franchineau joined the crowd and asked them about their motivations.

"This is my first time; before I don't think I needed to come out," 20-year old student Yang Chun-yin told Franchineau. "But I think we need to come out and express our views now. It's like I am quite afraid of being ruled by China."

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